Arts & Culture :: Books

Poet Richie Hofmann's new orbit of intimacy

Poet Richie Hofmann's new orbit of intimacy

  • by Mark William Norby
  • Mar 29, 2022

San Francisco poet Richie Hofmann combines memoir and fiction in order to detail the character's interior monologue in his new book of poems, 'A Hundred Lovers.'

Harvey Fierstein's 'Better' than ever: theater and film fave's memoir 'I Was Better Last Night'

Harvey Fierstein's 'Better' than ever: theater and film fave's memoir 'I Was Better Last Night'

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Mar 22, 2022

Award-winning writer and actor Harvey Fierstein qualifies as someone who has a distinctive voice and while reading his revelatory memoir, 'I Was Better Last Night,' you'd swear he was in the room with you, dishing away.

Queer reading: ACT UP's Staley is not silent in new book

Queer reading: ACT UP's Staley is not silent in new book

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 15, 2022

ACT UP member Peter Staley pens a new memoir, "Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism."

Sang Young Park's 'Love in the Big City'

Sang Young Park's 'Love in the Big City'

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 15, 2022

Sang Young Park's gay-themed 'Love in the Big City,' his first to be newly translated into English, has been a runaway bestseller (nine printings) in South Korea, astounding for such a socially conservative nation.

Frank Bruni's memoir, 'The Beauty of Dusk'

Frank Bruni's memoir, 'The Beauty of Dusk'

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 8, 2022

"I went to bed seeing the world one way. I woke up seeing it another," writes gay journalist Frank Bruni in his new memoir about that fateful morning in 2017 when he awoke with blurred vision resembling a thick fog.

The lingering scent of murder: Lara Elena Donnelly's 'Base Notes'

The lingering scent of murder: Lara Elena Donnelly's 'Base Notes'

  • by Jim Piechota
  • Mar 8, 2022

Drenched in pheromones and the smells of the big bad city, Lara Elena Donnelly's latest novel offers further proof of the author's wide-ranging talent and creativity.

'Sticker' author Henry Hoke

'Sticker' author Henry Hoke

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Mar 1, 2022

With his breathtaking and brief memoir 'Sticker,' queer writer Henry Hoke challenges our notions and expectations of the genre and does it all in under 125 pages.

'Frankie & Bug' author Gayle Forman

'Frankie & Bug' author Gayle Forman

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Mar 1, 2022

In her new Young Adult novel, best-selling author Gayle Forman takes us back to the summer of 1987 in Los Angeles. Bug (aka Beatrice) and her older brother Danny navigate the streets around Venice Beach.

The work of sex: Michal Witkowski's 'Eleven-Inch' addresses sex as survival

The work of sex: Michal Witkowski's 'Eleven-Inch' addresses sex as survival

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Mar 1, 2022

'Eleven-Inch.' Polish novelist Michal Witkowski's ninth book, bracingly rendered by his regular translator W. Martin, shares the picaresque chronicle of two teenagers on the lam from their politically oppressive homelands in Eastern Europe.

The good son: Neel Patel's 'Tell Me How To Be'

The good son: Neel Patel's 'Tell Me How To Be'

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Feb 22, 2022

Akash, the protagonist of Neel Patel's debut novel, 'Tell Me How To Be,' ralphs at important family gatherings, behavior that evinces a certain sincerity in a clan infested with secrets.

Outside the rainbow: Black lesbian couple's memoir

Outside the rainbow: Black lesbian couple's memoir

  • by Cornelius Washington
  • Feb 22, 2022

Naomi W. Scales and Marilyn J. Jordan's co-authored memoir, 'From Pain To Love: Our Journey Outside The Rainbow,' is very timely, reflecting just about everything that is pathological about the African-American community.

Lorraine Hansberry: two biographies on the life of 'A Raisin in the Sun' lesbian playwright

Lorraine Hansberry: two biographies on the life of 'A Raisin in the Sun' lesbian playwright

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Feb 15, 2022

Two biographies of Black lesbian playwright Lorrain Hansberry, one new, the other recent, offer insightful perspectives on the writer whose singular success and difficult life were cut short.

Keith Butler on his 'Unapologetic Memoir'

Keith Butler on his 'Unapologetic Memoir'

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Feb 15, 2022

Memoirs by LGBTQ authors continue to be more popular than ever. Among the new releases, Keith Butler has written a no-holds-barred book about his personal struggles and his path to recovery.

Art and drag: Monique Jenkinson's memoir, 'Faux Queen'

Art and drag: Monique Jenkinson's memoir, 'Faux Queen'

  • by Jim Piechota
  • Feb 15, 2022

Monique Jenkinson's memoir, a dazzlingly unfettered exposé of life as a soulful performer, begins, of course, with style, fashion, and budding star quality.